Forty-two days. That is how long I have been a fine resident of Beaumont, Alberta. I’m not completely sure that is the exact number of days because I think I have been unpacking for at least five years. Two of those years were me opening boxes labeled “kitchen” that were filled with tupperware containers, each individually wrapped in paper to make sure no damage could be done to my precious plastic lids. I also spent a decent amount of time unraveling paper to discover single flip flops. Oh boy was I happy the movers didn’t wrap my shoes as pairs. It was a fun game trying to match them all up again. It was like Christmas with all the boxes and unwrapping, except instead of being gifted with wonderful things, I found the same old crap from my other house. Every. Damn. Time.
So far I am handling the move quite well. I am satisfied because I am pretty sure my friends group in Medicine Hat fell apart the day I left. I was the glue holding them together and without me, they are nothing. They don’t even talk in our group chat because I insisted they stop being friends since I wouldn’t be around anymore. I’m pretty sure they all agreed and in no way started a new group chat minus one person… me. I am yet to make friends in Beaumont. and it’s not like I haven’t tried. I took my son to the spray park in hopes that I would meet people there. I just ended up giving two boys shit for splashing my kid. I also took my son to a play park where he had a blast playing with another child. I so politely asked the mother how old her daughter was, when she informed me that her SON was three. So I’m really making some great first impressions. Beaumont isn’t all that big, so I can’t screw up too much. When I first got here I would drive around to get to know the town and ended up driving past my own house three times. I couldn’t get lost if I tried.
At least I get along with my new neighbour. I like her but who’s to say if she likes me? I don’t want to beat around the bush and act like I’m some kind of proper lady only to find out later that I most certainly am not, so when I introduced myself, I had a beer in hand while my baby was nursing at my boob. A+ parenting right there. After going through a pregnancy it doesn’t take long for the alcohol to hit you, so it was really fun when I drank two whole beers and had to try and remember her name the next day. I call her Barb.
Barb (if that is her real name) didn’t seem very excited when I told her she now has the honour of taking care of me. My old neighbour in Medicine Hat did so now the torch has been handed off to her. She gets to experience the joys of helping me try to keep my plants alive, baking me cookies, and feeding my cats while I am away. I also told her if Jeremie ever leaves town for anything, she gets to knock on my door every few days to make sure I’m not dead. She grinned through her teeth and nodded so I’m pretty sure she wants to be my best friend.
In Medicine Hat I was part of a Facebook group for my neighbourhood. Ahh, The Hamptons – Medicine Hat. Where I always learned of lost dogs and which day of the week was garbage day. It was actually quite handy, so I attempted to find the same kind of page here. Place Chaleureuse – Beaumont. It doesn’t exist. How the hell am I supposed to meet people on my street and learn which ones to avoid, all without actually going outside and having to meet them in person?! Do I step up to the plate? Am I actually going to be the kind of person to create a Facebook page that my neighbourhood can join so we know what the haps is in Place Chaleureuse? The answer is yes. I’m a mom now and these are the things stay at home moms do. I will post if there is any suspicious activity going on, maybe even put together a neighbourhood watch. Kidding. But I do like the idea of being an administrator who threatens to block people from the group if they don’t clean up their act, like “John, if you make one more nasty comment about Dorothy’s weeds in her yard I’m going to have to block you!” That kind of authority could really go to my head though.
There was one day where I thought my potential best friend lived on my street. Another fellow cat person! I was letting my two year old play in the pile of dirt that is my yard right now (we still need to landscape) and I was very excited when I looked up to see a neighbourhood cat sniffing around a tree at the end of my driveway. Oh a cat I can pet! Who is the owner of this majestic creature? I want to be friends! Well it was me. I am my own best friend because it was my own stupid cat who got out. Marlo, the sneaky devil, snuck out when I had my front door open. She is an indoor cat and got to experience that good fresh air for a whole ten minutes before I noticed. Best ten minutes of her life.
It doesn’t matter that I am a loner in this new town anyway. I am super busy trying to get settled. Getting our house in order is taking time. We just got our Central Vac installed today and I spent a good hour giving my new vacuum hose a hand job trying to get the cover on it so I don’t damage my walls while whipping the thing around corners. When I vacuum, I vacuum my ass off so don’t get in my way. I have been known to snap mops right in half. I have also been busy answering the door for AC techs, landscapers, and a friendly man who goes by the name of Chad that gave me a quote to screen in my deck. Kudos to my acting skills when I read the price and nodded like it was reasonable rather than letting him know I had shit my pants. I also dedicated an entire day to writing this post and my kids forget what daylight looks like. So ya, I’ve been busy.
All jokes aside, I’m doing okay. My last post was heartbreaking for me to write because I was sad I was moving, but it was also heartbreaking for my husband. I never considered how it would make Jeremie feel, but he read it and felt terrible for “making” me move and that was not my intentions. I don’t feel as if he made me do anything. He actually left the decision in my hands. He wasn’t going to force me to do anything I didn’t want to do. I helped make the decision to pack up our belongings and come to Beaumont because I knew it could be good for our family and our careers.
Right now I am busy trying to make our house a home. Maybe in six months I will be writing a post telling all of you to never move. Don’t ever try anything different because it will absolutely ruin you!!!! But at the moment, I can say I have stopped crying every day. I am adapting. I taught myself to drive to all the shopping centres in Edmonton in case I need some retail therapy. I am updating everyone to tell you I am doing fine because I know you all are just DYING to know. Change isn’t always a bad thing, but it also isn’t easy. My little family is helping me survive and making it all worth it.
My friends aren’t doing shit though, because I haven’t made any yet.